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Federal funding and lending should be used to help Australians into home ownership, according to a lender that specialises in assisting struggling borrowers.

HomeStart Finance, which is backed by the South Australian government, told the federal Inquiry into Home Ownership that its assisted-finance model should be rolled out across Australia.

HomeStart makes it easier for buyers to access finance by offering loan-to-value ratios (LVRs) of 97 per cent and by accepting alternative income sources such as Centrelink benefits.

Chief executive John Oliver said home ownership rates could be improved by a federal program aimed at increasing access to affordable finance.

That would require the federal government to provide support with funding and lending, Mr Oliver added.

“Nationally, affordable housing policy typically leaves the provision of finance entirely up to the private sector,” he said.

“HomeStart’s experience and results demonstrate there is a role for government to play in providing a stepping stone for customers to move from private rental or other accommodation into assisted home ownership.”

HomeStart has generated a profit every year since it was founded in 1989, and more than 80 per cent of its customers would have been unable to qualify for a mainstream loan.

“These buyers, typically on low-to-moderate incomes, require home finance which overcomes barriers to home ownership, such as deposit, start-up costs and borrowing capacity,” Mr Oliver said.

“Once assisted, the vast majority become reliable payers, with many quickly building enough equity in their home to refinance with a major lender.”

Access Bank cards are internationally acceptable and can compete favourably with any payment card either locally or internationally. There is no need for our customers to bother about the stress associated with foreign exchange rate and carrying wads of cash whenever they travel. The Access Visa card is a convenient and acceptable alternative to cash, he was quoted to have explained in a statement.

According to him, Access Bank had been at the forefront of driving the cashless initiative in Nigeria, and has continued to raise the bar through the provision of innovative financial products and services.

Cash is handed over to a payday loan customer in Dallas. A Society of St. Vincent de Paul pilot program aims to replace predatory, high-interest payday loans with affordable bank loans to help otherwise creditworthy, debt-stressed borrowers get a fresh financial start.

Amid a startup wave in Santa Monica, a revitalizing downtown and an emerging tech corridor on Highway 101, a younger and hipper group of entrepreneurs is beginning to reshape the corporate culture of Greater Los Angeles.

That’s part of the reason why it put a smile on my face to see two companies from Ventura County emerge victorious from the 2015 edition of Ernst amp; Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year awards.

Keynoting the June 16 dinner was LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, whose message to nearly 1,000 people at the Beverly Hilton was that he wants the City of Angels to challenge the Silicon Valley for supremacy in innovation.

“The New York Times says people are leaving Brooklyn for LA,” he boasted.

The program is now in its 25th year and you can put me down as a regular attendee — after all, it’s the closest thing to an Academy Awards for business in the Greater LA Marketplace. Not since

Richard Riordan spoke more than a decade ago has there been the kind of vibe that accompanied this year’s program.

For all the bravado about an emerging LA challenging the Bay Area’s tech giants — Apple, Google, Facebook and Twitter — the truth is that LA alone can’t do all of the heavy lifting. It needs the spirit of entrepreneurship — and a century of success building niche companies that’s in the business DNA of Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties — to truly match up with the Bay Area.

Underscoring that essential truth was Shiva Rajagopalan, founder of Seven Lakes Technology, a 55-person software company in Westlake Village that won in the Business Services category.

The former Chevron engineer founded Seven Lakes to bring advanced software solutions to large energy companies which he said are “one to two generations behind” in adapting to the new world of tablets and apps. “I’m truly humbled,” a surprised Rajagopalan told me.

A few minutes later, Jeff Green and Dave Pickles of The Trade Desk, a Ventura-based digital advertising platform that’s been recognized in the past by The Business Times, won in the Marketing amp; Advertising category. This was the third try for Green and Pickles, who built their platform around serving advertising agencies — not around individual companies — resulting in really fast growth.

Three finalists went home without hardware but not for lack of a great story. Matt Marquis of Pacifica Hospitality would perhaps have been a stronger contender in the real estate category but the judges didn’t see it that way. Emerging Company contender Melissa Kieling of PackIt has a remarkable personal comeback story and has not finished winning awards. San Luis Obispo-based Movement for Life is an innovator in health care with a unique employee-ownership structure that itself is worthy of recognition.

My take away was that after a lost decade for business and entrepreneurship, Los Angeles seems to have recovered just a bit of its entrepreneurial swagger.

The slowly turning battleship that is the vast LA economy is part of it.

So is Garcetti, a dynamic young mayor who can pitch a group of venture capitalists as easily as pushing through a $15 minimum wage.

From tourism to home finance to demand for our agribusiness products and business services, a vibrant LA economy is extremely important to the success of the Tri-Counties.

Meanwhile the buzz among the bankers, lawyers and CPAs at the pre-dinner cocktail was about those two hot Central Coast IPOs — Mindbody in SLO and AppFolio in Santa Barbara.

o Reach Editor Dubroff at [emailprotected]

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AKRON, Ohio — Once again the owner of the vacantRolling Acres Mall thwarted a potential auction sale, filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy Monday in Delaware District Bankruptcy Court, forcing Summit County to pull the mall from its sheriffs sale and keep the property clenched inits grasp.

It is the second time in eight months that Premier Ventures has filed for bankruptcy within 24 hours of a sheriffs sale. The limited liability corporation filed for Chapter 7 in a California bankruptcy court in October.

Until the new bankruptcy is resolved, SummitCounty remains unable to do anything with the mall, which continues to rot as water and snow pours in shattered skylights and vandals roam the interior.

I think that they want to sell the property and they are just going to try and delay it as long as they can, Summit County Assistant Prosecutor Regina Van Vorous said Tuesday.

The mall had been listed at just over $1 million in Tuesday mornings sale auction, plus $1.4 million in unpaid tax liens on the building. Van Vorous said Monday that she didnt expect the building to sell.

Premier Ventures last bankruptcy was thrown out of bankruptcy court in February after the company couldnt prove it had a valid address in California. Van Vorous believes the company will maintain standing in this bankruptcy, since Premier Ventures is incorporated in the state of Delaware.

The court originally placed a hold to prohibit the company from filing for bankruptcy in any US court, but after an appeal the court agreed to limit the restriction only to federal bankruptcy courts in the state of California.

Among debt issued on the mall is an outstanding mortgage that originated in Beverly Hills Ponzi schemer Ezri Namvars capital investment group, which has since been dissolved. Thatmortgage, which according to bankruptcy filings has never been paid, was transferred just before Namco Capital Group was dissolvedin 2008.

The mall was shuttered in 2008 after FirstEnergy cut off the power. Security contractor SACS eventually stopped showing up at the building after bills went unpaid.

The county foreclosed on the building in April 2013 but now must wait throughyet another bankruptcy proceeding before it can try to liquidate the property again.

A meeting of the Board of Directors of Aspire Home Finance Corporation Ltd will be held on June 15, 2015, to consider and approve the offer, issue and allot upto 2000 Redeemable Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) of Rs. 10,00,000/- each (Rupees Ten Lakhs each) aggregating to Rs. 200 Crores (Rupees Two Hundred Crores Only) on private placement basis, in one or more tranches.

Shares of ASAHI INDIA GLASS LTD. was last trading in BSE at Rs.155.1 as compared to the previous close of Rs. 156.6. The total number of shares traded during the day was 4711 in over 108 trades.

The stock hit an intraday high of Rs. 156 and intraday low of 154.15. The net turnover during the day was Rs. 730012.

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A duo appeared in court in connection with a scheme to steal bank cards and PIN details at cash machines.

The pair appeared on a petition alleging they used a ‘card trapping’ device to steal the details of unsuspecting bank customers using the machine.

Florin Necula, 36, and Alexandru Uzum, 26, originally from Romania and now living in Edinburgh, appeared in private at Perth Sheriff Court in connection with a series of incidents at bank cashpoint terminals.

It is alleged that between May 20 and June 9 this year they had a card reader device and related articles to facilitate the theft of bank cards and pin numbers.

They are alleged to have had it in Scone and Oxgangs, Edinburgh.

They are said to have tried to steal bank cards and pin numbers on May 28 at the Bank of Scotland in Scone by using the card trapping device to prevent cards being ejected.

Uzum is alleged to have placed the device, and a camera, on the same machine on May 20 to steal personal data; and to have stolen a bank card.

The charge also states he stole #163;10 from that bank machine and a further #163;200 from the Co-Op in Bridgend, Perth, by using the stolen card on May 20.

Neither made any plea or declaration and both were granted bail while the case was continued for further examination.